Control the Record

The purpose of a meeting is to resolve a controversy or issue. During the course of this iterative process, a lot of people will present views that are ultimately rejected or substantially refined. Unfortunately, someone usually records in notes or minutes every little thing that anyone says. These notes or minutes frequently come back to haunt the organization should a dispute arise down the road.

Invincible executives tend to have someone they trust take the minutes—they never rely upon the other side in a negotiation or a dispute because the people on the other side will skew the minutes to reflect their viewpoints. Moreover, even with internal meetings, truly sharp executives will not let their people write "stream of consciousness" meeting minutes that document every disagreement or ridiculous idea that someone had. Rather, they insist that minutes identify the participants and the issues discussed and then record the resolution or consensus, according to Hendrik Verfaillie.

Top professionals despise an inefficiently run meeting. If you want to join their ranks, you have to arrive on time, turn off the cell phone, keep it short, stick to the subject, and record the results only. Then, as you rise up the corporate or organizational ladder, you must insist that those who work for you do exactly the same thing.